The elevator doors open with the quick work of a foot. Juggling the bags of groceries the man retrieves his keys. Hearing the final lock turn, he prepares to enter the apartment when a familiar voice enters his consciousness. "Harm I'm so glad I caught you," the elderly woman says as she carries a bag of trash.
"Hell Mrs. Gadson it's good to see you again. How is Mr. Gadson?" Harm asks struggling to keep the bags in his arms.
"Oh Peter. He's fine my dear. And I must thank you again for taking him flying. He came back with a look in his eyes that I haven't seen since we were dating."
"I'm glad he enjoyed it. I'll be happy to do it again any time," Harm smiles at the elderly woman.
"Peter will be happy to hear that." Mrs. Gadson says turning to finish her walk to the trash shoot. "Oh one more thing, whatever happened to that young lady who used to come around here? Sarah wasn't it?" she turns to face him with a suspicious gleam in her eyes.
"Yes. She's on an assignment right now, but she should be returning soon." He says hoping this conversation is not going where he thinks it's going.
"Glad to hear that. You know she's quite the gal. She came over the day you took peter out, and we had quite an interesting conversation. Yes, she told me about all the things you have done together, and I must say I was impressed. But one thing I noticed was how her face lit up every time she spoke of you. She cares about you, don't let her get away." Finishing her speech Mrs. Gadson turns and moves to attend to her previous task.
Shaking his head, Harm enters his apartment with a smirk on his face and tired arms. Placing the bags and his keys on the counter top, he moves toward the couch pushing the blinking red light on the answering machine.
"Hey it's me. I'll be arriving from L.A. at 3:30 be there. I love you and I'll see you tomorrow." The female voice permeates the apartment making Harm smile as he finishes putting away the groceries. For the rest o the night Harm moves about his apartment preparing for tomorrow.
Entering the airport, Harm thanks the heavens that it's Friday. "Two whole days with nothing else to do but lie around," Harm says to himself as he looks upon the departure and arrivals noticing the gate and the baggage claim number he moves toward the growing crowd. Using his height to his advantage Harm scans the crowd. After several sweeps he finds the person he's looking for and carefully makes his way through the crowd. "You look like you need a lift," he whispers into her ear.
Jumping at his voice she turns around giving him a heartwarming smile. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulls him down for a kiss. Breaking away she lets out a sigh of satisfaction. "I missed you," she whispers.
"I missed you too Sarah, you ready to go home?" he asks softly caressing her bare arms.
"Uh huh, just lead the way," she laughs as he drags her toward the exit, barely giving her time to grab her bags.
That evening as the lights of D.C. filter into the apartment laughter can be heard vibrating off the walls. "She really said that. Wow, and I thought your mother was gutsy." Sarah laughs as Harm wraps his arms around her waist.
"But you know what she said is true. You are the only one for me." Harm pulls her closer to him enabling them to lie along the same pillow.
"'When did you become such a sap?" she asks melding her body with his.
"Oh since I got this," he says rolling over onto his back, pulling her with him. She lets out a small giggle as he moves his hand to the bedside table. Grabbing the item he's looking for, Harm moves his attention back to the woman in his arms. "You know you're the only one who's trusted me. I mean you let me be myself even when I go off on my wild tangents. Hell you've followed me to Russia twice. You're the perfect woman, and I'd be a fool not to want to spend the rest of my life with you." He pauses as he notices her watching him intently. Cocking her head to the side she gives him a small smile, encouraging him to continue.
"Sarah, will you marry me?" he says in one breath. He watches her closely as her smile turns into a laugh. Scared of the implications he fails to notice her move out of his embrace. Slowly she moves inch by inch up his body until she reaches his lips. Staring into her eyes she sees a nervousness that has never existed. Caressing his cheek with the back of her hand, she holds his gaze calming his fears. "You know with everything we've been through what hurt and scared me the most is when we fell apart. I love you Harm, and nothing would make me happier than becoming your wife."
Holding his face in her hands she slowly begins to kiss him, increasing the passion with each new move. Before becoming completely lost in the woman he loves. Harm removes the ring from its box and slips it on her finger.
Epilogue
The sun shines through the half opened curtains slowly disturbing the occupant inside. Slowly regaining her consciousness from a peaceful sleep, Sarah lets out a soft groan as the sun seeps in. Rolling over she feels for signs of Harm, but finds nothing. Becoming more alert, she sniffs out the smell of pancakes and bacon filtering throughout the home.
Following the smell, she finds herself at the doorway to the kitchen. A smile graces her face as she watches Harm stand in front of the stove wearing nothing but pajama bottoms and an open flannel shirt. Sarah continues to watch him taking in the peaceful moment which laden's the air.
The calm is quickly broken and replaced by the sounds of a happy three year old boy, dressed in airplane pajamas. "Again," he laughs watching Harm flip the pancake into the air. The laughter continues as the little boy focuses on Sarah. "Morning mommy," he says as Sarah makes her way toward him.
"Good morning to you too button," she says patting her son's nose. Moving to wrap her arms around her husband's waist, she stands on her toes to place a kiss near his ear. "And good morning to you," she whispers into his ear.
Before she has time to react, Harm pulls her into a passionate kiss, as he wraps his arms around her. The heat barely has time to rise before it's broken by a small voice. "Kithing, yuck." Harm and Sarah pull away from each other, and move their focus to their son.
"Oh really, so you think kissing's yucky huh? Well what about my kisses?" she asks as she picks up her son, and proceeds to kiss his cheeks.
Harm watches the scene unfold in front of him, and can't help but think about the elderly neighbor who started it all. With a smile on his face his attention is brought back to his son and wife as he hears, "Mommy kisses don't count."
